THE PERFORMANCE | How did she do it? That was the question the lingered in our minds Thursday night at the end of Glee‘s heartbreaking, complicated and ultimately beautiful farewell to its central character Finn Hudson and tribute to its late star Cory Monteith.

We’re speaking, of course, about Lea Michele’s achingly real performance as Rachel Berry. The actress didn’t appear in the episode till the 42-minute mark, when Rachel arrived from New York City to participate in the week-long musical memorial to 19-year-old Finn, who’d died unexpectedly under circumstances that were not discussed in the episode. “Nobody treat me with kid gloves, ok?” Rachel implored, before breaking into a tear-streaked cover of the first tune she and Finn ever belted out in their car, Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love.”

As a viewer, it was impossible to separate the emotions directed toward Rachel, a young girl reeling from the sudden loss of her high-school sweetheart, and Michele, a young star reeling from the loss of Monteith, her real-life boyfriend. And in this instance, the blurring of such lines was apt, especially considering that it was Michele herself who, back in July, made the decision to continue with Fox’s high-school musical. As executive producer Ryan Murphy told TVLine at the time, “we made no decisions without consulting Lea,” but the actress felt “it was best for the cast and crew to get back together sooner [rather] than later so that mortgages could be paid and people could take care of their families. Cory was so beloved that she felt people really needed to be together in this time.”

Still, it’s one thing to go back to work weeks after an unexpected death. It’s quite another to tap into your still-raw emotions and your palpable grief, to put your own loss on display in service to your character and in solidarity with your audience, most of whom were — from a distance — still grappling with their own sadness over Monteith’s tragic passing. As Michele delivered “Make You Feel My Love,” every quaver of her voice, every tear on her face, advanced the grieving process for character and audience; there wasn’t a dry eye among the characters/cast members in that McKinley High rehearsal room, and we suspect there weren’t many in the living rooms of Glee fans, either.

Later, in a followup scene where Rachel visits Mr. Schue — and delivers a plaque in her fallen love’s honor — Michele once again was magnificent. Her monologue about being afraid of forgetting Finn’s face and voice, and trying to come to terms with the fact that her vision of their future would never come true, was a parallel for how so many Gleeks would now have to re-imagine the series’ endgame. “I had it all planned out: I was gonna make it big on Broadway, and maybe do a Woody Allen movie. And then when we were ready I would just come back, and he’d be teaching here, and I’d walk through those doors and I would just say ‘I’m home.’ And then we’d live happily ever after.”

Amazingly, Michele’s tearful guffaw about Finn’s quote on his plaque — “The show must go…all over the place…or something.” — provided a final reminder that even in the face of senseless tragedy, there is comfort to be found in laughter, in music, in our bonds with friends and family. And to that end, we salute Michele’s ability to give us that gift during one of her own darkest hours.

HONORABLE MENTION | Nashville‘s Charles Esten for turning Deacon’s agonizing climb back onto the wagon into a thing of painful beauty. Deke is slowly returning to us – in that scene in Teddy’s office, Esten played promising shades of the man we (and Rayna) fell in love with – but good God, the process just may kill the bandleader. It can’t be a picnic for his portrayer, either, but that didn’t stop Esten from providing hour’s most moving moment: his subtle, gripping delivery as Deacon knuckled away tears during his testimony at the substance abuse-group meeting.

HONORABLE MENTION | Glee‘s Romy Rosemont, for her jaw-dropping work as Finn’s grieving mother in the aforementioned “The Quarterback” episode. As Carol, her husband Burt and their stepson Kurt separated Finn’s possessions into boxes, Rosemont utterly broke our hearts as she explained the horror of waking every morning and realizing she’s still a mother — just one without her son. “For just a second, you forget,” she sadly explained of her morning ritual. Rosemont’s performance, on the other hand, will be etched in our minds forever.

Does it really count as an outstanding performance if you are pretty much just playing the exact thing that you’re going through in real life? If she had come in and delivered a completely normal performance with no hint of sadness or tragedy that would have been an outstanding performance as an actor. Playing what you’re actually going through in the moment isn’t really acting, is it?

Props to her for putting herself back in that place and kinda addressing the issue. I don’t mean to say anything bad about her at all. Just that this article is usually about standout acting. If that is the case, there were probably actors who had to dig a little bit deeper this week.

Yeah… and she has been acknowledged non-stop for this very reason since before she even filmed the episode. But as far as performance goes, someone like Charles Esten had to actually create those moments.

I’m talking about acting here. As I said, I respect her ability to go back and put her true emotions on display. But it wasn’t acting.

I guess it depends on your definition of performer. To me, a performer is a musician, an actor, a comedian, a dancer. She is both an actor and a musician. Perhaps she wasn’t acting much, but her performance as a musician was flawless. And to do such a thing so flawlessly when you are grieving so much is in my opinion, the very definition of a performer. =]

I think her performance was very much nuanced and a thing of restraint. She could have easily gone over the top but i think she held back just the right amount without acting out of character.it’s unfortunate that real life imitated art in this scenario but should we really fault her for that or just evaluate her performance on face value

whether or not it wasnt acting, it was outstanding and this episode was more of a tribute and a farewell type episode for which fans could greive over the loss of Cory more than it was about wrapping up finn’s character..I would say that she was acting and unwillingly channeling her grief, she was still in character and she was still playing it..I dont know how you expected someone in such a circumstance to handle it

She should be acknowledged for her loss, her pain, her courage to step up and move on. But this wasn’t a performance. And that’s the point. She should be singled out because in spite of the fact she was mourning, she committed to the show and to this episode in memory of Cory/Finn. But not for acting. Actually, to say it was a performance kind of diminishes her grief.

To me that is why she does deserve it. The others didn’t have the added pressures she has been under for months now. She still had to act we,to perform, she still had to delivers lines and hit the right tone. She had to do tap into a still very new and raw emotion.

Charles was fantastic but he could leave it at the door when he left. He wasn’t going to be put under a microscopic for the performance, he didn’t have the rest of the cast looking to him to set the tone of the show or even the season.

No, you’re not being fair, really. She already had two episodes of this season to act normally, she had to sing Yesterday and those “why he had to go” words, that broke our hearts, and to make it look like everything’s OK, and she did, and in this episode she had to get herself together and actually film it… And that was no more than 3-4 weeks after she lost him… I don’t know if you realize how thew filming process goes, they’re not just all there talking to each other, while somebody is quietly sitting in a corner, filming it. I do understand what you’re trying to say, I’m just telling you that you didn’t really think it trough. It takes a great actor to get themselves together and film it, and her tears were real and it wasn’t acting alright, but you totally missed the point.

Sorry, but I have to agree with Drew.
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Sure, it takes talent to go into filming after what happened and get back to work, but she didn’t have to dig anywhere to find the emotions that her character was experiencing. It was basically an auto-biographical moment for her. Ask yourself honestly, do you think Lea would have been able to pull off this “performance” had the character’s death been written for creative purposes rather than the fact that the actor died? (Not commenting on Cory’s death, just making a point here.) Would her acting really have been the same? Would it have held nearly as much weight?
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I’m glad that Drew mentioned Charles’ Esten’s performance on this past Wednesday’s episode of “Nashville” because that was true performance. It took a phenomenal actor to pull off such a personal moment for such a damaged character.

While I see your point, what makes a great performance is how it makes your audience feel, not how you get there as an actor. All actors tap into some memory or emotion in order to make the moment they are playing as authentic as possible. So yes, Leah’s material was the same as she was performing but the result was that viewers were weeping alongside her – it was so raw and her pain was put on display and her ability to be completely vulnerable is what deserves acknowledgement. What I am curious to see is the raw footage that was shot vs. the pre or post recorded soundtrack – it must have been heartbreaking to be shooting that scene with her and I think that’s why her scene partners were genuinely weeping as well. The standout ‘acting’ for me was Romy Rosemont – that scene broke my heart but LEah’s performance will be remembered because she was tasked with letting in the world in to her grief and she deserves all the kudos and respect fro doing just that.

obviously, you’ve never taken an acting class or learned anything about being an actor. acting isn’t just reading lines. it is BECOMING, it is BEING another person. and the absolute hardest thing to do for an actor? to tap into their own personal, true emotions and thoughts, and make those thoughts visible to an audience.

in acting, we have something called emotional recall. it’s when we use something that’s happened to us, in our lives, to tap into the emotion of a character. Lea’s performance wasn’t just emotional recall parlayed into a performance. it was the truest she has EVER been (and that’s saying a lot) and THAT is acting.

i can’t explain it to you in just one or two paragraphs. you would need to understand the very core of being an actor to comprehend what i’m trying to convey. but believe me, that WAS acting, and it was the absolute best i’ve ever seen on this show in five years.

Interestingly, you comment that ‘If she had come in and delivered a completely normal performance with no hint of sadness or tragedy that would have been an outstanding performance as an actor’. Isn’t that, in fact, what she did in the first two episodes of the season, when she was waiting to see if she got Funny Girl? Both those episodes were shot after Monteith died, and there was no hint of sadness or tragedy in her performance.

I’m crying again just reading this article. Lea Michele did a wonderful job on this episode. I can’t even say acting because the emotions were real and raw. When she talked about forgetting Finn’s voice, I think anyone who has ever lost anyone can relate to this. I know I do and it made the tears come harder and faster. And that scene with Finn’s mother was so heartbreaking, I can’t remember a more emotional scene on TV ever!

Glee is a ‘comedy’ so no. She got snubbed when she was nominated for season 1 and has not and will not come close again which is a shame because she is one of the reason’s why the show is still on the air.

But the award is for best actress in a comedy, not best comedic performance. But the distinction doesn’t matter with voters. Her better chance is a golden globe which is certain should have won the first season.

But it won;t matter cause she won;t be able to submit this performance cause people would rim her for it.

I am, unfortunately, going to have to disagree, I felt that Naya Rivera (Santana) and Matthew Morrison (Mr Schue) gave better, heart aching performances. But I do love the Honorable Mention to Romy Rosemont, that scene was just devastating to watch. An all around great episode, and a nice send off to a beloved character.

Yeah her weird scream just kind of made me laugh and took me out of the moment. She was just way too much, I ended up just sort of more annoyed with her than sympathetic. Carole, Schue and Rachel were great though.

I have to disagree here although Naya did very well it had to be somewhat scripted in order to get music and camera angles etc..I think her tears were real but a break down of sorts had to be scripted in order for Kurt to go and find her to give her the jacket

Surprisingly, that could be how some people act when they’re grieving. I don’t think it was over the top. I know I’ve done that. especially since I hate crying in front of people.There’s no book or guideline on how to act after someone dies. It may seem annoying to you, but no one has a right or wrong way to grieve someone they care about.

I disagree about the scream. I’m not someone who yells or screams but when my sister died… I screamed and screamed. Sometimes it was just that frustration, grief…a variety of emotions that are bottles up and no words can release them. That scream? That’s reality for some people when grieving, it brings us back to our center.

I don’t know if that’s fair or accurate. I hate letting anybody see me cry and when I do cry with people around, I most definitely cover my face. I could also see screaming and leaving the room if I thought people were going to invade my space when I was breaking down. Everybody breaks down and grieves differently and even though it’s not my style, I understand demonstrative criers. But you judging the way someone like Santana behaved would be just as unfair as me saying someone else was crying openly just to get attention.

It’s very well deserved. Lea’s and Romy Rosemont’s performances tore me apart completely. They were brilliant. Outstanding. Just thinking about those scenes is bringing tears to my eyes again. It was a very well written episode, and very well acted by everyone.

Naya Rivera was incredible in this episode. Santana is seen as this cold, bitchy girl and Naya gave so much raw emotion and depth. She should’ve got an Emmy two years ago but she really is overdue for one.

I agree 100%, Lindsay. I thought Romy Rosemont’s performance in that scene was unforgettable. I know it would have been impossible to do but I wish Lea Michele sang the song live. For some reason her voice sounded particularly disembodied in this episode.

I totally agree here about Romy Rosemont’s performance. I thought it was so much more heart wrenching than Lea’s….maybe because I’m a mom, and the thought of being a mother without a son just tears me up.

You mentioned the worst singer and actress on the entire show. Wow. I realize that this site is really skewed towards Glee and everything Glee, but come on. My cat sounds better coughing up a hairball after all.

It’s sad how some people are so jealous and intimidated that they only have negative things to say about something they know nothing about. I feel sorry for your cat too, perhaps your personality is making him/her throw up.

The original poster doesn’t like someone’s singing or acting- how does that make them jealous or intimidated?Its just a matter of opinion. Disliking someone doesn’t mean they’re jealous of them. That being said… I find their opinion to be ridiculously ludicrous and completely disagree. But to each their own.

Actually, saying you didn’t care for a performance would be an opinion–making the comment about “my cat sounds better coughing up a hairball” sounds very jealous and petty. The childish comments by the original poster show a very immature person. IMO. I agree with Emily.

I’ve said it before…Glee is nothing but televised karaoke.
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Last season on “Nashville,” when a character died for creative purposes in the show, Hayden Panettiere gave a much better performance AND sang a song no one had ever heard before (“Nothing In This World Will Ever Break My Heart Again/”
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Hayden is a better singer AND a better actress.

Writing? What writing? They only wrote it because CM actually died. LM could never have pulled that performance off had the death been written solely for creative performances. She doesn’t have the talent.

Finn’s mother started the waterworks for me. There was something almost traumatic about watching her break. And then Rachel set them off again. That plaque and the quietness of her performance were incredible. Lea is an admirable, courageous woman with a great future ahead of her.

Well deserved. I honestly appreciated the fact that her appearance was somewhat understated. She came in late in the show, gave a heartwrenching performance, then had a nice scene with Mr. Shue. Kudos to her and the rest of the cast and crew for a beautiful tribute. Lea is very talented; and appears to be a genuinely nice person. I’ll be following her career.

I agree completely with giving this to Lea, along with Romy Rosemont for the honorable mention. I don’t watch much of Glee anymore, but I tuned in for this and was reduced to tears, which is something that does not happen often for me. The fact that their pain was real made it more heartbreaking.
For the other honorable mention, however, I would’ve done Jennifer Morrison from Once. Her “lost girl” speech was beautiful.

Just a random thought about coincidence and the way art imitating life and life imitating art: In the week where Glee mourned the loss of Corey without mentioning the cause, Charles Esten gave a heartbreaking performance of a man, a good sensitive honorable man, who is fighting addiction and paying a high price for it.

I found that watery laugh at Finn’s intelligence as they hung up the plaque really affecting as well. In general I loved everything about how they played Rachel. It wasn’t this big, attention seeking, exploitative mess like I was fearing. It was quiet and thoughtful and genuine and even a bit funny. And Carole grieving for her son also broke my heart. Those two deserve all the praise and accolades they’ve been getting.

Santana and Rachel were great in their scenes but my hat is off the one of the best performance I have ever seen, Romy “Finn’s mom”. I was crying through out that whole scene. Oustanding performance and she should win a emmy or something for it because I know it touched a lot of people.

Lea is and excellent choice. Her performance as Rahcel was understated, heartfelt, and powerful. The real situation just made it all the more powerful, IMO. Rory’s scene as a grieving mother was heartbreaking. Both deserve all the praise, along with Matt Morrison and, I never thought I’d say this, Mark Salling. Kudos to all four. The finest, most believable performances in a devastatingly beautiful hour. Brava, Lea. I will follow her career, and look forward to seeing this talented woman’s future projects.

In my view, the problem with Lea’s performance is that she ALWAYS sings her heart out, even when it’s not particularly appropriate to the song or situation. So, when in this week’s show when it was appropriate, it kind of fell flat, since I’ve seen it so many times before. That said, amazing professionalism just to get through the scene.

But that is Rachel she give it her all all the time. Amazes me how people still don’t get Rachel. Why this was different cause you could feel it in in her whole body she didn’t make the grand gestures as Rahel would have she almost closes herslef off from the pain by crossing her arms, holding herself. Rachel in a performance would have never done that she would have played to the back of the theater.

Lea was great but I’m not sure it merits ‘performer of the week’ status considering that she wasn’t really performing. This was very real to her. Not to diminish her effort but ‘performing’ implies an act, and this wasn’t. Considering what a mess Glee has been, I wasn’t expecting much. But this episode was very, very well written and executed. With the possible exception of Puck who really cannot act. Santana’s outburst in the choir room was so like her. It perfectly conveyed her frustration in not being able to properly express her grief. Sue was brilliant. Watching Finn’s mother was heartbreaking. The line about losing your child but still being a mother was brilliant. It completely wrecked me. But it was the last scene when Mr. Shue broke down that really made me do my ugly sob. His pain was so raw. So undiscribable. It’s like it came from the depths of his soul and it was gut-wrenching.

She was still performing. I doubt Lea in real life has just broken out and sang to get over Cory. It was scripted and as an actress she had to make decisions on how far she wanted to go She made small choices Rachel as a performing usually goes big and bold but Rachel here still grieving was closed up within herself her arms cross trying to keep it togehter.

Lea was just brillant knowing the loss of Finn also means her real loss of Cory and that she could even sing that let alone perform it someone i know put it best she put her grief on show for the whole world to see like most of the cast this episode was absolutely astounded by the episode it was the best ever hour of tv ive ever seen it was so emotional

Lea could’ve done all of the over the top crying and screaming naya did which we know rachel probably did behind the scenes but they didnt want to to make Lea have to do that much. She was very limited in the episode but struck the chords of our hearts. Her scenes were mellow but very heartbreaking. I mean that would he just cruel to make her full out sob and scream about unfair this is. The beginning rachel wouldn’t even look at pics of Finn it leave the apartment. She was that hurt. She sang a heartbreaking song and gave beautiful dialogue. She wasn’t over the top, just real. I do think naya dod very well and her scenes we’re very powerful but Lea’s mellow scenes still deserve this performer of the week.

I cried throughout the entire episode. It was heart wrenching just watching it. I’ve never cried so hard in my entire life. It felt like they were right there with me in my living room performing and trying to cope with their grief. It was a really great tribute to Cory/Finn. Glee will never be the same without you. RIP

It’s not uncommon for me to sniffle through a moving scene, but knowing that this was very real to those young people, and that RM used the first takes in every scene so their performances would be less rehearsed – I sobbed all the way through. True “ugly cry.”

I thought it would be easier watching it again with a friend who hadn’t seen it. Nope. Ugly cry, take two.

And I’m so mad at Cory for doing this to himself. I didn’t particularly like him or Finn, but the anguish he caused to so many people is infuriating in its unnecessary-ness.

Emmys for Lea, Romy and Mark! Lea’s singing was perfect and her acting was incredible! Romy was spot on as Finn’s grieving mother and Mark nailed his struggling to move on performance! Kurt was good and so was Schue! I didn’t care as much for Sue and Santana!

Lea Michele really did a heck of a job. A great performer is one who is professional, shows up prepared and gives their best effort, even if it pains you, and that’s what she did. That scene with Rachel and Mr. Schue was probably my favorite. It wasn’t some overtly display of grief. It was quiet, hopeless and heartbreaking. Most of all, it was one of the few scenes that actually focused on Finn and defining who he was – an intelligent man in an untraditional way.

Romy’s scene was the most heart-wrenching of the episode. How do you go on after a child dies? That is almost unspeakable for a parent. It was so brilliantly acted, definitely one of the top 3 best acted scenes ever on Glee.

I’m incredibly disappointed in how few comedic performances get recognized as performer of the week. I think every week should have both a dramatic performance of the week and a comedic performance of the week!

Lea did an outstanding job being able to sing that song with so much raw emotion. I was in tears. And the performance that Romy gave was for me as a mom, even more of a tearjerker not being able to imagine losing one of my children. Props to both of them for outstanding performances!

Glee definitely had the ‘performer(s) of the week’ category after that episode. Trouble is, who do you go with as they were all such good ‘performances’. I do agree with TVLine that Lea deserves it. Even her first scene at the lockers with the memorial had me. She just appeared, and from there, everything she did was just so delicately done. She showed real raw emotion, whilst not over-doing it. Personally, this was the hardest thing I’ve ever watched in my life, I was crying non-stop, even through the commercials because it hit me that hard. Carol (Romy), Burt (Mike) and Kurt (Chris) were outstanding. That scene where they were in Finn’s room sorting out his stuff was so heart-wrenching and believable. I know they did lose Cory in real life, but as characters to act like that, blew me away. I felt as if I was there. Another scene which I found difficult to watch was the Sue (Jane) and Santana (Naya) one, in which Santana goes to apologise. That was real. Jane was talking about Cory at times there ‘it’s such a waste’ being an example. The thing with Glee is that sometimes they attempt to embed storylines without reason, but this episode flowed so well, it was like it had written itself. Credit where it’s due; the writers and actors made it like this. The way they subtly showed that grief affects people in different ways was good for this unfortunate situation. There’s no doubt that Cory would’ve been proud of this episode, it honoured him and Finn very well; the most moving 40-minutes I’ve ever witnessed on both the small and silver screen. The standout actors for me were Lea, Romy, Mike, Chris, Naya, Mark, Dot and Matt.

Romy’s performance along with Kurt and his dad was so strong. I was crying for most of the show but at that point I sobbed. I am a parent of one son and I don’t know if I could go if something happened to him. To know you are always going to be a mother but no longer have that person would be impossible.

All of the other characters were wonderful. The scenes between Santana and Sue were amazing. She was able to show her caring side which we have not seen since her sister died. Mr. Shue and Coach Beiste each cared for others before they could truly express their personal grief. Wish that Quinn and Brittany could have participated. I could go on but I think I have expressed my key feelings.

To bad comedies only get nominated for comedic work. There should be some sort of category for best dramatic acting in a comedy. Someone from Glee would be nominated for this episode for sure, & maybe in previous seasons.

I could be wrong, but I think Sarah Jessica Parker won a best actress in a comedy Emmy for a dramatic Sex in the City submission once. I think it was the one where her and Aidan broke up or something….

I pretty sure there have been quite a few “dramatic” submissions in the comedy category that have one. Someone else mentioned SJP winning for an Sex and the City dramatic episode (the Carrie/Aiden break up). I’m also thinking about Edie Falco winning for playing a drug addict nurse on Nurse Jackie (she actually went up during her acceptance speech and said, “I’m not funny”). Lastly, Chris Colfer won for Kurt’s coming out episode of glee- which, minus the Single Ladies dance, is FAR from funny. The category is titled “Best performance by an actress in a comedy”, not “Best comedic performance by an actress”. The Emmy voters might be willing to take note of the difference in a special case like Lea’s.

Please share with the class your proof (real proof, not the stuff emitting from your little so-called brain) that they were not a couple. How do you know? Where’s your absolute, God knowing proof of this incredibly moronic statement? Don’t worry, I’ll wait…..hope you have pictures.

As others have mentioned, Jane’s scene with Naya sounded like a pure condensation of everything she has said about Cory’s passing, starting with the perfectly delivered line, “he was such a good guy,” [hope I quoted that right]; it just rang true in every way a line of dialog can. I totally bought it as her honest feelings; watched it twice, got me both times.

Glee is a comedy and even if Lea was nominated her compitition would be fierce and remember the uproar to give Cory a special in “memorium” tribute, those are the people who would be voting for the Emmy winner so I don’t think she would have a chance in hell.

Wow. After reading these comments, I realize Glee fans have a pretty terrible definition of “Emmy-worthy.” Lea was good. Very relatable, and definitely emotionally-charged despite everything she’s gone through. But by no means was most of this episode Emmy-worthy! Romy Rosemont was amazing, and will get nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Guest Star. Otherwise…the episode was good, just not knock-it-out-of-the-park incredible.